Amazon charges 1 cent to bypass French ban on free book delivery

Amazon has begun charging 1 cent for book deliveries in France to counter a recent law in France.

The law - which came into force this week - prohibits online retailers from offering free book deliveries in order to protect the country's 3,500 traditional book stores from the effects of online shopping, reports France 24.

France has tried to safeguard its independent book sellers since 1981 when retailers were told they could not discount more than 5% off the cover price.

Other large retailers in the country such as Fnac have also had to stop free deliveries through their website.

French culture minister Aurelie Filippetti previously suggested Amazon's practices pose a risk, saying: "Once they are in a dominant position and will have crushed our network of bookshops, they will bring prices back up."